Five things we learned from Lions' flawed win over Queensland Reds
Fin Smith of the British and Irish Lions in action during the win over Queensland Reds on Wednesday. Photograph:It is probably something everyone will have to get used to, if they haven't already done so. The three
Lions
' outings so far against Argentina, Western Force and the Reds have been full of mistakes, some handling errors, a lot of misplaced passes and some misreading of what team-mates are doing or where they are going to run. In all three games the opposition have taken advantage of that and rattled the Lions' cage. The payback for having international players start the game and then flood in from the bench early in the second half is offset by the steep learning curve the players are on to gel as a team. As England World Cup winner and former Lion Lawrence Dallaglio said before the tour started, the whole Lions enterprise is set up to fail. But the second 50-point win in a row says something is solid.
Fewer replays makes for refreshing viewing
British and Irish Lions' Jac Morgan scores a try against Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday. Photograph: Jason O'Brien/PA Wire
By design or just the way things are rolling, there have not been many TMO referrals and replays in the opening two matches played in Australia. There was at least one referral against the Reds, and a try was awarded to the Lions after review. But the experience so far is that people are generally content with the referee diving into a pile of bodies and making the call without going through all of the angles and prolonging the game. The replays have become part of the rugby entertainment business but less of them and allowing the match to move on quickly on is quite refreshing in its own old-fashioned way.
Smooth Jamison Gibson-Park operates well with
Finn Russell
Jamison Gibson-Park showed his vision and plenty of other qualities for the British and Irish Lions against Queensland Reds on Wednesday. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho
It was encouraging to see the Irish nine,
Jamison Gibson-Park
, back playing competitive rugby. It is only when he is away from the game and returns that the smooth tempo he gives a team - compared with Alex Mitchell's staccato style of play - is so eye-catching. Ronan O'Gara rightly said on television that at his best Gibson-Park is up there with French nine Antoine Dupont. Although he clearly has another gear or two above what he showed against the Reds, his linking with outhalf Finn Russell, his control at the base of rucks, accurate kicking game, snipe threat and temperament were all on display. Already connections within the squad are beginning to form and although it was the halfbacks' first time out together the Irish scrumhalf and Scottish pivot have the look of a Test-match pairing despite having much more to add to their game than the outing against the Reds showed.
Ben Earl holds court in Lions centre
Ben Earl tries to go on the rampage for the British and Irish Lions against the Queensland Reds in Brisbane. Photograph:Irish centre
Bundee Aki
was replaced at the end of the match by England backrow Ben Earl. It was an interesting decision by
Andy Farrell
, giving the forward 15 minutes to try his hand in a star-studded backline. Earl is a dynamic player and has some pace. Not as much as Henry Pollack, another Lions backrow, but enough to possibly cause havoc in the midfield. Indeed, after providing cover in the centre against Wales during the Six Nations, Earls said 'it is not too dissimilar'. 'Half the stuff I do is as a 12 anyway,' he explained at the time. He also played the last six minutes of England's 47-24 victory over Italy during the Six Nations at centre and scored the final try. Steve Borthwick first used him in the backline during England's victory over Japan last summer. A hybrid player. Watch this space in Australia.
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Freescoring Lions are going to be hard for Australia to keep at bay
Maro Itoje scores a try for the British and Irish Lions against the Queensland Reds. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho
How will former Ireland and current
Wallabies
coach
Joe Schmidt
counter the Lions change of gear when the teams meet later this month? In the two games on Australian soil the cogs have shifted and the tries have flowed. Only four minutes into the second half agaisnt the Reds, Maro Itoje triggered the surge, scoring a try after good work from Aki. Nine minutes later it was flanker and player of the match Jac Morgan who ran a great line to take a flat pass and dive over. Just four minutes after that England wing Tommy Freeman twisted and used his strength to force himself over the line, and Huw Jones ran most of the length of the field to touch down on 65 minutes. Replacement Garry Ringrose ended the try fest on 80+4 minutes, touching down in the corner. No doubt Schmidt is already on it.
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The 42
6 hours ago
- The 42
'Win by will' - The powerful video Katie Taylor sent to the Lions
PERFORMANCE COACH GARY Keegan's old connections came in handy for the Lions as they prepared for their second Test win against the Wallabies. Keegan, who works closely with Andy Farrell with Ireland and now the Lions, goes a long way back with Irish boxing icon Katie Taylor. He was the high performance director of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association when Taylor began to make a name for herself as an amateur, helping to guide the early stages of her career. So earlier this week, as Farrell's Lions prepared for what they knew could be a decisive game against Australia in Melbourne, Keenan got onto his old friend. Taylor's video went down brilliantly with the Lions squad and proved prescient in terms of how the second Test unfolded. 'It was unbelievably poignant and powerful,' said Lions and Ireland number eight Jack Conan after the last-gasp 29-26 win over the Wallabies. 'It spoke about being prepared to win with skill, but be ready to win by will. 'I think that was something that summed up today massively because we were not at our best at all.' Conan hails from Bray, where Taylor is also from, so the video was particularly special for him. 'Massively, huge,' said Conan. 'Someone to come from the town I'm from, I'm incredibly proud of where I come from and I know Katie is as well. 'She's gone on to achieve incredible feats in the boxing world and to be such a superstar and be just incredibly humble and driven and knock it out of herself is something that we kind of leaned on as well, because we knew that Australia are a hugely proud nation and they showed it today in spades. Advertisement 'They were unbelievable, they really were, but we just stuck in it for 80 minutes and just incredibly proud of the effort from the lads. Katie Taylor celebrates her recent win against Amanda Serrano. Gary Carr / INPHO Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO 'I know things didn't click and we weren't flowing properly, but we were getting off the line, trying to hit people, trying to make it count every chance we got. And I think we did that and that's why we got the result in the end.' It wasn't only Conan and the big group of Irish Lions who were impressed with Taylor's message. Her words hit the mark with the rest of the squad. 'Lads absolutely loved it because it meant a lot to me being from the same place and seeing her on the world stage, but I think everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy, it resonated with everyone,' said Conan. 'It was unbelievably poignant, it was class. It really hit home for us, it was brilliant.' Conan was standing outside the Lions' dressing room with two cans of Guinness in his hands – 'Sorry, the cans are not good, lads' – as he got his head around winning a series with the Lions. He played all three Tests on the 2021 tour of South Africa but the Lions lost that one and there were no crowds due to the pandemic. This trip to Australia has been altogether different. He revealed that the Lions' training session on Thursday ahead of the second Test was 'pretty shocking' and felt that possibly fed into their up-and-down performance at the MCG, but all that mattered to him was that the tourists had won. Conan joked that as a Leinster man he usually comes out on the wrong side of dramatic finishes like the one in Melbourne, so he was thrilled that his long-time team-mate Hugo Keenan, who is nicknamed 'Barry,' was the man to seal the series. 'I was delighted for him… now in saying that, I would have liked it more if he gave me the ball on the edge and I scored the try,' said Conan. Conan with his daughter, Remi, and wife, Ali. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO 'No, delighted for Barry, I probably would have dropped it like the other one [in the first half]… no, that was knocked out of my hands, lads! 'I was shouting for it, but Barry goes and scores a try, so I've no complaints. If he bottled it there in that moment, I would have killed him and kicked the arse off him afterwards, but that was great.' Conan's wife and daughter have been in Australia to support him, while his twin sister and her husband also made it, along with a big group of Conan's friends. 'They're on a proper stag do, some craic,' said Conan. 'I met one of them earlier who flew in from Singapore and all the lads were already in the pub at half ten [in the morning] enjoying it and I was like, 'f*cking b*stards, I'd love to be there'. 'It's great doing the lap afterwards and seeing so many familiar faces.' His friends had an early start in the pub but Conan is now a Lions series winner. 'You can't take that away from us,' said Conan with clear joy before wandering off to find the rest of the Lions so his celebrations could continue.
RTÉ News
9 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Jack Conan: 'Poignant' Katie Taylor message inspired Lions win
Jack Conan has revealed how a message from Katie Taylor helped inspire the British and Irish Lions as they wrapped up their series with a game to spare against the Wallabies. The Lions staged an epic comeback to defeat Australia on Saturday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, coming from 18 points down to win 29-26 after Hugo Keenan's try with the final play of the game. Ahead of the Test, scrum coach John Fogarty spoke about the inspirational presentation from former Lions captain Martin Johnson, who handed out the game jerseys. And Conan says they were also given a motivational message from one of Ireland's greatest ever sportspeople. "We had a video from Katie Taylor earlier in the week and it was unbelievably poignant and powerful," he said. "It spoke about being prepared to win with skill, but be ready to win by will. I think that was something that summed up today massively because we were not at our best at all." From one Bray native to another, that message from the 2012 Olympic gold medalist, and current undisputed world lightweight champion struck a chord with Conan in particular. "Someone to come from the town I'm from, I'm incredibly proud of where I come from and I know Katie is as well. "She's gone on to achieve incredible feats in the boxing world. "And to be such a superstar and be just incredibly humble and driven and knock it out of herself is something that we kind of leant on as well, because we knew that Australia are a hugely proud nation and they showed it today in spades. "Lads absolutely loved it, and it meant a lot to me being from the same place and seeing her on the world stage, but I think everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy, it resonated with everyone. "It was unbelievably poignant, it was class. It really hit home for us, it was brilliant." Conan had the best seat in the house for the winning try from Keenan, outside the full-back's left shoulder when he got the ball from scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park. On Saturday night, Andy Farrell admitted he was calling for Keenan to pass the ball to his team-mate and take advantage of the mismatch, with Conan standing out opposite wing Max Jorgensen. And the number 8, who could have scored the opening try of the game but for a ball-and-all tackle from James Slipper, joked that he was robbed of a career highlight by his Leinster team-mate. "I was delighted for him, now in saying that, I would have liked it more if he gave me the ball on the edge and I scored the try. "No, delighted for Barry [Keenan's nickname]. I probably would have dropped it like the other one... no, it was knocked out of my hands. "He [Keenan] had a bit of a rocky start to the campaign with the sickness that derailed him for a while and it's a testament to his professionalism and staying in it. "I was shouting for it, but Barry goes and scores a try so I've no complaints. If he bottled it there in that moment I would have killed him and kicked the arse off him afterwards, but that was great." Conan, who turns 34 on Tuesday, had an all-action evening at the MCG, with a combined 31 carries and tackles, the most of any Lions player in any Test across the last five tours. The team struggled badly at times in the first half, with Conan attributing some of that to Thursday's training session, where he said the team were "pretty shocking". The inconsistency of both sides made for an epic contest for the neutral, and Conan says clinching the series in such a way makes the victory even sweeter. "As a Leinster man you're normally on the other end of it where you don't win them so it was nice to be on the other side of it for once. "We were not at our best by any measure, but physically the lads dug in unbelievably well. "I think the celebrations and the craic and changing room, if we went out and we won by 20, it wouldn't be the same. "Everyone's just over the moon. To be part of a Lions winning series team is just incredibly special. I feel incredibly humbled and honoured to be part of it all. "Something that will go down in history, they won't be writing the history books about how s**t we were, but they'll say that we won and that's all that matters. "You can't take these things away from people and go down in history. I know people don't have the best things to say about Australia but I thought they were class today, they played above themselves. "We saw Valetini, big Willie Skelton and come back into the side. They were unbelievable, they made a huge difference and we struggled with it at times, a little bit high in the contacts, a little bit soaking, whatever else but it doesn't matter, we got there in the end didn't we?" As for the celebrations, they will roll into the start of the week. The team were given Sunday off as usual, while they have also been allowed some extra time to 'rest and recover' on Monday, before hitting the ground on Tuesday, looking to seal the clean sweep in Sydney. "Yeah it's class, just the feeling afterwards, the celebrations, 'Big Tadge' [Tadhg] Furlong was giving it 90 on the sideline which was class and it was just unreal. "Part of a Lions winning series is just so special, to have played two 80 minutes, I'm not sure if I'll be playing next week after my performance but we'll see what happens. "It's great doing the lap afterwards and seeing so many familiar faces like all the lads' partners, family, everything like that is class. And then seeing my wife and then all my mates, my twin sister's here as well with her husband and they've been digging in with the baby duties as well which has been great. "So you couldn't wish for anything more compared to four years ago when there wasn't a sinner in the stadium, getting a proper rattle out of it now is just unreal."
Irish Daily Mirror
9 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Lions star reveals 'poignant and powerful' video from Irish icon inspired team
Ireland ace Jack Conan has revealed that an inspiring video from boxing great Katie Taylor helped the British and Irish Lions find the resilience needed to close out their series against Australia. Taylor, an Olympic gold medal winner and current undisputed world super lightweight champion, sent the good luck message to Andy Farrell's squad in the build-up to Saturday's second Test at Melbourne Cricket Club. The 39-year-old's words on the ability to dig deep turned out to be prophetic as the Lions emerged 29-26 winners after fighting back from an 18-point deficit. 'The video was unbelievably poignant and powerful. It spoke about being prepared to win with skill, but also being ready to win by will,' said Ireland number eight Conan, who like Taylor hails from Bray in County Wicklow. 'That was something that was massively summed up in the game because we were not at our best at all. 'It's huge because she comes from the town I'm from. I'm incredibly proud of where I come from and I know Katie is as well. 'She's gone on to achieve incredible feats in the boxing world. To be such a superstar, incredibly humble and driven is something that we leant on as well because we knew that Australia are a hugely proud nation and they showed it in spades. 'Everyone loved it, even the English and the Scottish boys and the Welsh boy – it resonated with everyone. It was unbelievably poignant, it was class. It really hit home for us.' Katie Taylor celebrates after defeating Amanda Serrano (Image:for Netfli) It took a beautifully-taken try by Hugo Keenan with 51 seconds remaining to separate the rivals in one of the greatest Lions matches ever played. Remarkably, Keenan's touchdown was the first time they led in the match. Conan admits that victory tastes all the sweeter for having been taken to the wire as Australia raised their game to a whole new level a week after starting the series with a whimper in Brisbane. 'We were not at our best by any measure, but physically the lads dug in unbelievably well,' he said. 'It was disappointing how we played, but we played for 80 minutes. Hugo getting over the line in the last minute was just unbelievable. 'It wasn't my best game. A lot of us weren't at the races at all, but we stuck in there. You can't fault the effort. I thought the defensive sets we put in, just whacking people and just staying in there, was unbelievable. 'It's something that will go down in history. They won't be writing the history books about how s*** we were, but they'll say that we won and that's all that matters. 'Everyone's over the moon. To be part of a Lions winning series team is incredibly special. The celebrations in the changing room wouldn't have been the same if we'd won by 20.'
